Environmental Causes of Drowsiness and Grogginess

If you are seeking to spruce up your workplace or residence, look for ways to increase the body's natural flow of energy. There are several causes of increased drowsiness, including irregular sleep patterns, medications, stress, lack of exercise and poor diet. Additionally, environmental aspects of your surroundings and makeup of contemporary design are thought to induce fatigue, drowsiness and inattention.

Sitting

• For those who sit at a desk most of the workday, fatigue and general lack of concentration can result from an improperly balanced body, where the hip extensors, glutes and hamstrings are all overlengthened and overstretched. Solutions may involve incorporating a standing workstation into the workplace with an antifatigue mat, which may reduce back pain and stress, improving productivity and reducing fatigue. Excessive sitting and inactivity may also lead to obesity, which furthers the cycle of fatigue and drowsiness.

Lighting

• Exposure to natural lighting and blue lighting helps to decrease drowsiness. According to the Mother Nature website, natural lighting can have an effect on the central nervous system by resetting the biological clock and suppressing the production of melatonin, which is a sleep-inducing hormone. Getting better sleep at night may be as easy as minimizing light exposure during the hours before sleep; after all, humans are used to thousands of years of rising with the sun and settling down and sleeping a night. Other light-related tips include using candlelight during the nighttime and reducing the use of electronics before bed.

Causes of Broken Sleep

• Your sleeping environment can either allow or deny your ability to get adequate rest. If you do not get adequate rest at night, you will inevitably become more tired and drowsy during the day. Environmental factors affecting night sleep may include snoring sleeping partners, noisy neighbors or barking dogs, whether the room is too hot or too cold or sleeping on the wrong mattress for your body type. Other causes for lower sleep quality during the night may include flashing or bright lights in your room.

Chemical Exposure

• Because of the abundance of chemicals present in modern facilities and buildings, the human body is absorbing higher gradients of toxic compounds that have deleterious effects on the body's ability to fight off fatigue. According to the Pro Health website, both doctors who work with patients who are chronically fatigued and those who work in the field of environmental medicine propose that "chemical exposure is a major contributor to fatigue and low vitality." As an example, exposure to formaldehyde, trichloroethelene and toluene cause fatigue, poor concentration, drowsiness and headaches. All of these chemicals are commonly found in copy machines, floor polish and air pollution.